CHARLES PEALE POLK | George Washington

Charles Edward Scarlett, Jr., Baltimore, Maryland, circa 1946
By descent to the present owners

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes, Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work is restored and looks well. The canvas has an old glue lining and the paint layer is stable. Even though the surface is very slightly wavy, it is recommended that the current lining be kept. The paint layer is cleaned, varnished and retouched. Under ultraviolet light the only retouches that are visible in the face itself are a spot or two around the mouth. There is a 1 inch long restoration in the top of the forehead on the right side that extends into the background to the right of the head. There are a few more tiny spots of retouching in the dark hair above the ear on the left. Within the shirt, the hand, the cuffs, the epaulettes and yellow part of the coat, the only retouching is to the coat beneath the cuff in the lower center. There are three or four retouches here and some retouches to the bottom edge. There are small retouches in the lower right corner which extend slightly into the glove behind the hilt of the sword. There are no retouches in the landscape and the buildings on the right. There are small dots of retouching addressing old thinness in the sky to the immediate right of the head and in the center of the left side. The darker color in the sky on both sides and above the head shows small isolated retouches. The condition is good and the painting can be hung in its current state.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Charles Peale Polk painted a series of portraits of George Washington during the early part of Washington's presidency in response to the overwhelming public demand for images of the young nation's new leader. Polk had trained under his uncle, Charles Willson Peale, having moved in with the Peale family at the age of nine following his mother's death and his father's acceptance of a permanent commission at sea. When Polk began his series of presidential portraits, he based his likeness of Washington on Peale's 1787 "Convention" portrait, modifying Peale's formal, bust-length depiction into a distinctive composition of his own: a half-length portrait showing the President on the battlefield at Princeton, New Jersey. In Polk's version of Washington at Princeton, a subject he painted approximately sixty times, the president appears at the height of his military service as commander-in-chief of the American forces, his blue and buff general's uniform updated to include three stars on the epaulet, the designation for commander-in-chief beginning in 1780. Polk's portraits of Washington demonstrate the emergence of his own distinct style and constitute a highly individual contribution to the body of early Presidential portraiture.